1. Field of the Invention
The preferred embodiments of the present invention generally relate to determining hydraulic permeability of earth formations traversed by a borehole. More particularly, the preferred embodiments are directed to determining permeability anisotropy of the earth formations. More particularly still, the preferred embodiments are directed to determining the hydraulic permeability, permeability anisotropy and skin using an analytic model that considers the storage effect downhole, as well as the dip angle of the formation relative to the borehole.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known that some earth formations exhibit anisotropic properties. That is, certain downhole parameters may have more distinctive qualities, or may be more pronounced, in one physical direction than another. While there may be many properties that exhibit this characteristic, this specification is directed to determining the hydraulic permeability anisotropy of the earth formations.
Permeability is a measure of how easily fluids flow through a particular environment. Earth formations having a very high permeability may flow greater volumes of liquids than formations having a low permeability for the same pressure differentials. Because of the way earth formations are formed, typically horizontal layer upon horizontal layer, the permeability of earth formations is generally higher in a direction substantially parallel to the layers of earth formation. Likewise, the permeability is generally lower in directions perpendicular to the layers of the earth formation. While it is generally true that the horizontal permeability is greater than the vertical permeability, this need not necessarily be the case.
Permeability of a formation generally may be determined by inducing a fluid flow from the formation into a test apparatus, and measuring the pressure differential created by the induced flow. If the testing is performed with only a single probe, then the permeability determined is spherical permeability and indistinguishably contains both the horizontal and vertical permeability components. That is, using a single probe, and inducing a flow, the flow of formation fluids comes not only from locations within the formation on the same plane as the probe, but also from above and below. Thus, using only a single probe, while giving the ability to determine the permeability generally, is not sufficient to ascertain the horizontal and vertical components of the permeability. Related art devices compensate for this inability to determine both the horizontal and vertical permeability by having two probes vertically spaced apart.
In particular, related art devices may include a source probe at a first elevation, and a second probe vertically displaced from the first probe. Further, some devices may also include a third probe at the same elevation as the first probe, but azimuthly rotated therefrom, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,830. By inducing either positive or negative pressure within the formation at the source probe (by forcing fluid flow into or out of the formation respectively), and detecting pressure response at the other probes, it is possible to determine both the horizontal and vertical components of the overall permeability of the formation. However, there are aspects of a borehole traversing an earth formation that are not determined or compensated for in devices such as those described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,830.
Drilling of earth formations typically involves a drill bit at the end of a drill string cutting or chipping away pieces of the formation. Drilling fluid, also known as “mud,” flows through an inside diameter of the drill string, through jets on the drill bit, and then back up through the annular region between the drill string and the borehole wall. The mud serves several purposes. First, the mud moving past the drill bit acts to cool and lubricate the bit. Secondly, the circulation of drilling mud through the annular region carries cuttings away from the drill bit. Finally, the drilling mud has a specific density such that the pressure within the borehole as it traverses earth formations is greater than the pressure of fluid or gas within the formations, thereby forcing the downhole hydrocarbons to remain within the formation rather than entering the borehole. If the pressure of the drilling fluid is not carefully maintained, it is possible for the downhole hydrocarbons to enter the borehole and/or expand under the reduced pressure pushing the drilling mud back toward the surface, known as “kick.”
The rather violent process of drilling through an earth formation, in combination with the drilling mud present during the process, affects the downhole formation's ability to produce hydrocarbons. In particular, the act of drilling tends to damage, even if slightly, the formation immediately adjacent to the borehole wall. This damage may affect the permeability of the formation in this location. Further, the presence of the drilling mud at pressures greater than the formation results in invasion of the mud into the formation. This too tends to affect the permeability of the formation at locations adjacent to the borehole. While related art devices have advanced in their ability to determine both the horizontal and vertical components of the permeability in downhole formation, they are not capable of accounting for the affects of the formation damage and invasion of the drilling fluid near the borehole wall—which combination of factors is collectively known in the industry as “skin.” The effect of the skin on the measured permeability may be as high as an order of magnitude, thus contributing substantially to error in related art permeability determinations, as they do not take skin into account. Other factors too introduce error into related art determinations of permeability anisotropy, like compressibility of formation fluids and dip angle of the formation.
With the advent of directional drilling, it is now possible, indeed probable, that any particular borehole may not be substantially vertical. That is, as the direction and inclination of the drilling process changes, the borehole may cross otherwise substantially horizontal earth formations at an angle. Thus, the axis of the borehole at any particular location may have an angle of inclination, also known as the “dip angle,” with respect to the direction of horizontal permeability. This difference in the angle between the axis of the borehole and the direction of horizontal permeability may also manifest itself where an otherwise vertical borehole crosses an earth formation itself having an inclination. Regardless of why the dip angle is present, the difference between an assumed horizontal permeability normal to the borehole axis and the actual horizontal permeability affects the determination of the actual horizontal and vertical permeability. Related art permeability testing devices do not compensate for the dip angle.
Thus, what is needed in the art is a structure and related method for determining horizontal and vertical permeability, and thus the anisotropy of the earth formation, that takes into the account skin and dip angles of the well bore, as well as any other downhole parameter which may affect a measurement, such as the storage effect caused by compressibility of the formation fluids.